Kagerou Summer Days
by NekuSakuraba101
Summary: Fluffy sequel to "Kagerou School Days". After completing school the group is out for summer vacation, and Momo is gonna make sure they get everything on her list done. Rated T for cursing and suggestive themes.
1. Homework is for the Mighty (Weak)

_*****If you have not read **_**Kagerou School Days****, **_**I suggest you read that first before you read this. You don't necessarily **_**need **_**to, but it will make sense if you do. ******_

**So… sequel anyone? Yes, I did it like I said I most likely would, but (like how I was at the beginning of Kagerou School Days) I am a little hesitant about posting this. **

**I know that most people loved Kagerou School Days, and I am happy for that, but I don't know I you'll necessarily like this one. Hopefully updates will come faster and this story (or maybe not), as I have planned out most of it, and it will probably be around 16 chapters more or less, but that's just an estimation.**

**Also, I don't have my "Co-author" with me like I did before, who was the one that came up with a lot of funny unique ideas that I don't think I ever would have. This one is just me really :/**

**It has been pointed out to me that I did sort of rush the last story a bit (especially with the feelings of Kano and Kido), but that was mainly because of the deadline I had with the story and I'm sorry if that bothered anyone. Hopefully I won't do that with this (as much).**

**So anyway, I don't want people to get too excited and then have me crush their dreams. That is the LAST thing I want to do. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself and you will love this just as much as the last one (though most sequels are usually not as good as the previous story), or maybe you just don't care and want all my cheesy, fluffy writing even with it's flaws. I don't know. But, Happy Reading~!**

**-Neku**

* * *

"I hate this… I hate this so much… _it _can go die."

Kano cracked a small smile as he listened to Kido grumble softly to herself, probably only doing so because she thought he was sleeping. But he wasn't.

He had been before, stretched out on the couch, the sun from the window warming the fabric of his clothes comfortably, but now he was awake and Kido was still in the exact same position she'd been in before he'd fallen asleep.

She was kneeled on a cushion at their small living room table. Her back was too him, so he couldn't see the frustrated look on her face, but he saw her curtain on long hair reaching all the way down to her back. Despite her hour in the bathroom this morning, she was still in her pajamas which consisted of a pair of grey sweat pants and an over sized T-shirt that had the English word "What" inside a heart on it. He wondered if she even knew what that word meant.

He was also still in his pajamas, but who cares, it was summer vacation.

"Screw this…" Kido muttered to herself, laying down her pencil on the table and leaning her cheek into her right hand, shoulders drooping. She seemed to have given up for now.

"Are you okay, Kido?" Kano asked.

Her head whipped around quickly, mostly it seemed in surprise, but when she saw he was awake she just frowned slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." she said and nodded begrudgingly.

"You sure?" he asked, sitting up and resting on of his arms on his knee.

"Yes. I just hate that I have to do this damn homework." she complained.

Kano swung his legs off the couch, but only did it so he could sit on it like a normal person. "To be fair Kido, you don't _have_ to do any of it. You're grades last year were not as bad as you think they were." he said.

Kido just shook her head. She turned around so she was facing him and cupped her hands around her bent knees. "But they weren't what I wanted them to be either." she pointed out.

At least that was how she felt. She didn't know what it was, but her final grades weren't what she had expected them to be. And after complaining about it she was stuck here, doing homework she considered was from hell because there was no way she was going to summer school. Her pride just couldn't take that.

"But you passed." Kano countered, "It's not like they're holding you back if you don't do the homework."

"Well, I don't really expect you to understand since your grades aren't as important to you." Kido said and then gave him a look that said she was done talking about this, so he dropped it.

They were both quiet for a second. Kido picked at her sweats and Kano fidgeted in his lap.

"Hey Kido." Kano said. She looked up at him again. "Let me kiss you."

She gave him a stern look. "No."

Kano sat up straighter and pouted childishly. "Come on, please."

"No." she said again.

"Let me kiss you." he repeated.

Kido was now glaring at him, "I said, no!"

Kano shifted himself more forward on the couch, closer. "Why?" he asked, "Let's kiss."

"No!" Kido sounded angry now.

But Kano didn't give up. Instead he smirked. "I'll just do it anyway." he decided.

Her eyes flashed. "Don't you dare-" Kido started, but Kano was already next to her. "Don't touch me!" she yelled before Kano tackled her to the floor.

"Come on. Just once." he said, though his words were hard to make out due to all his laughing. It really didn't matter to him if Kido eventually kissed him, though that would be nice, he just enjoyed getting a rise out of Kido.

"Shut up! Get away!" Kido yelled as she tried to push him off of her. It actually kind of hurt as Kido pounded her fist once against his chest, but he knew she wasn't trying as hard as she could have. She didn't want to hurt him _badly._ At least not yet.

A few more seconds and Kano had her pinned to the floor, straddling her waist. He grinned down at her in victory and then stuck his tongue out teasingly.

"Cut. It. Out!" Kido growled. She reached beside her, fingers curling around the cushion she had been sitting on, and pushed it right in Kano's face.

It stunned Kano for a moment, but he easily grabbed it out of Kido's grasp and threw it up on the couch. "You know Kido, it is okay to kiss sometimes." he said with a crooked smile.

"I don't care." Kido said, glaring harshly, "What is wrong with you? Get off of me already."

"Oh come on, why not?" I'm not that bad at it, am I?" Kano asked.

Kido gave him a hard look, which he returned with a more mischievous one. "It's not that." she muttered reluctantly.

Kano blinked, then his grin widened. "So you're saying I'm a good kisser?"

"I never said that either!" she protested. Kano just started laughing again, but stopped when Kido mumbled quietly, "…it'll feel good."

"Huh, what's that Kido?"

"I said, because it will feel good." she repeated a little louder, and Kano noticed her cheeks darkening in color.

He then raised an eyebrow. "But Kido…" he said, trying to keep himself from laughing, "If it feels good, then it _is_ good."

"Well, it's not good when you're distracting me! I _should_ be doing homework." she countered, "Sometimes things can be too good."

Kido didn't look at him, and with a sigh got off of her. "Yeah, I get it." he said, "I'll just kiss you when you're done with your homework~" And Kano gave her a thumbs up.

Kido rolled her eyes as she sat back up and also muttering what sounded like an endearing insult. She pulled the cushion Kano had thrown on the couch off of it and placed it back down where she had been sitting.

Kano was about to grab another cushion to sit down on when suddenly there was a call of voices from the front door as well as some rather urgent sounding knocking. Kano and Kido both exchanged glances.

"Well," Kido said, nudging Kano's arm, "go see who it is, you're the man."

"Wow." Kano scoffed, but he got up anyway. The knocking came again when he approached their front door.

He opened it and immediately saw Mary on the front steps smiling sweetly when she saw Kano. Momo was behind her adjusting her pink jacket, a baby blue notebook under her arm. "Hey Kano." she said and waved at him.

"Uh, hi." he greeted almost hesitantly, "What are you doing here?"

Momo was also the one to speak up, "We're here to make plans. Is Kido here?"

Kano couldn't even answer before Momo was already barging through the entrance and Mary following behind her. Well alright then, Kano though, and closed the door behind them.

Kido was taken by surprise a bit when Momo and Mary both came into the living room and Mary greeted her softly.

She immediately started shuffling her homework papers off of the living room table. Not that it was some big secret that she was stuck with summer homework, but it was something she was embarrassed by, even with Kano and Onee-chan.

"A little bit of warning would be nice next time." Kido said as Kano entered the living room again. All he did was hold his hands up in surrender as an apology.

"Okay, so let's get down to business." Momo said, placing her blue notebook on the table.

"Business?" Kido questioned.

"Yes." the orange blonde said. She looked on the table until she found one of Kido's pens and started writing on a blank page on the notebook; _"To-do list for Summer"_

"A to-do list?" Mary said examining Momo's handwriting on the paper.

"Yup." Momo grinned and began marking numbers down the side of the page.

"Can I help?" Kano asked, though he was already kneeling on the floor at the table and examine what Momo was writing.

"You would want to." Kido muttered to herself. Since her first homework spot was now crowded around by adolescents, she escaped onto the couch where Kano had been, balancing her binder on her folded up knees.

They were all like that for a while, but why they were all whispering and crowded close together was beyond her. But that didn't stop her from sneaking glances at them.

There was another knock on the door later. Kido looked up, but neither Kano, Mary or Momo moved or gave any notice that they'd even heard. Kido sighed in somewhat irritation and placed her binder beside her on the couch before heading to the door.

"Aw, Tsubomi, that shirt looks so cute on you~" That was Ayano at the door the moment Kido had opened it. Kido usually didn't get embarrassed when Ayano gushed over her appearance, but it was the fact that Shintaro was there with her, the two linked arm and arm, that made her self conscious of Ayano's compliments. It was also apparent by the look on Shintaro's face that he was as uncomfortable about it as she was.

"Th-thanks." she said and then turned around to let them in.

"Where's Shuuya?" Ayano asked behind her as they walked down the hall.

"Look towards the 'Council of Summer'." Kido said, pointing at the table where the three were still crowded around the notebook.

"The what?"

Shintaro then stepped forward. "Really? The list?" he questioned.

Momo looked up from the notebook to give him one of those irritated looks only siblings give each other. "Yes, it's a good thing to get our priorities straight."

"Oooh, I want to see." Ayano was already kneeling down next to Mary to look over the page. "And Momo, you should put down something for me. Write down that we're going on a family trip, just so you know, okay."

"We're going on a family trip?" Kano asked as if it was the first he'd heard of it, which it wasn't.

But Ayano didn't answer. Instead, she frowned. "Hey, you forgot to put something down for number one." she pointed out.

"Oh no." Momo said, shaking her head, "We already know what we're doing for that one, but…" She paused to grin, " it's a secret."


	2. No Plans No Life

**Soooo, originally I was going to have Shintaro and Ayano in here, but….. **

**Y'know I love Shintaro and Ayano, each for completely different reasons, but it is so hard to write them as a couple. I love them to death, but when it comes to ShinAya, I always draw this blank in my mind and most of what I write is really forced. I really am clueless about how they'd act in a relationship, to be honest.**

**[Note to self: Write more ShinAya stories in the future.]**

**Anyways, this is moving right along, well not really since it's been over three months since I updated (why didn't anyone yell at me, cuz that's the only way I'll ever get things done!). I'm glad there was such good reception to me making a sequel, however good/bad it may be.**

**Fluff. This is all fluff really.**

* * *

Takane gnawed of the erasure end of her pencil, looking irritated, but completely concentrated and deep in thought.

Haruka just watched her. There was something fascinating about Takane when she got like this, and maybe it was because he rarely saw that side of her, the focused side where no matter what nothing could seem to break it. Unless she was playing video games, that is.

"It's okay Takane," he finally says, breaking the silence that had hung for too long, "you don't have to do anything right now."

"I know that." Takane mumbled. She pushed her notebook away and across the surface of Haruka's bed, her pencil along with it also. The sheet of paper was still as blank as when she'd turned to it. And why she felt the sudden need to do this, Haruka didn't know.

She was slouching, having refused the pillows Haruka had offered her as a back rest, a scowl clearly evident on her features. Haruka got up from where he'd been sitting at his desk, since Takane had been uneasy about them sitting on his bed together with his mom in the house. He'd found this laughable, but had complied with his girlfriend's wishes.

He crawled up to sit beside her, leaning in and making their shoulders brush comfortably. "If you keep doing that your face will freeze that way." he teased her.

The corners of Takane's mouth tilted up in a small smile, though her forehead was still creased in irritation. "I don't think that's true." she said, almost laughing. Haruka laughed too.

"I told you not come on the bed." Takane said seconds later.

"Takane you don't need to worry about that. My mom likes you." he assured her.

"It's not that!" she insisted, seeming almost indignant. "I'd just rather not have her think we're _doing _anything.

Haruka looked at her in puzzlement at first, but then he got it. And he laughed. Takane glared at him, but he seriously couldn't help it. "Takane, the door's already open." he said, gesturing to his open bedroom door (as that was one of his mother's rules if he had Takane over, so in a sense she'd been right). "And," he paused momentarily wrap and arm around Takane's shoulders and pull her closer, "I don't think she'd care even if we _were_ doing anything."

She spluttered at his words which ended up causing her to cough almost uncontrollably. "You choose the worst times to be funny. You really do." Takane said after she recovered, eyeing him testily.

Haruka just grinned at her, expression border lining on mischievous. "Sorry." he apologized sweetly, "So what do you want to do now?"

Takane just shrugged in disinterest. "Well, since my first idea went so well…" she mumbled dryly.

Haruka looked back to the notebook Takane had pushed aside. She'd suggested when coming over that they should think about what they were going to do after summer. High school had officially ended for them and now, Takane was wondering, what should they do now?

Haruka didn't really have any plans at all for what to do after, but he wasn't bothered by it considerably. It would come to him eventually, he was sure. But Takane was different. She seemed uncharacteristically depressed over the fact that she couldn't think of anything, didn't have any plans for her future.

"Hey, like I said, you don't have to do anything right now. Summer just started not too long ago, we have enough time." he said.

"But what if I don't think of anything?" Takane asked. She didn't look particularly sad, but Haruka could hear the upset tone in her voice. "Maybe I should get a job."

"That'd be nice, but if you decide to, do it after this summer, okay?" Haruka told her and when she didn't answer he reached over to brush her bangs away and pressed his lips against her temple.

Her reaction was almost instantaneous. "Hey!" she snapped, giving him a look that told him she wasn't in the mood for this right now, but he paid no attention.

"You have to promise." he told her. Haruka ducked down lower, pressing another soft kiss to the lower side of her jaw.

Takane flinched away, cheeks burning as she made a rather undignified squeaking sound and glared at him. "Stop it! I did not consent." she protested, "This could count as sexual harassment."

Haruka gave her a puzzled look, but couldn't keep it and keeled over on the bed in laughter.

* * *

"You can do this." Hibiya told himself, "You'll never feel better about yourself if you don't."

He bit his lip, looking down at the mobile device in his hands- hands that, thankfully, weren't shaking anymore. The names on his contact list flew passed him until he reached the number he was looking for. Taking a steadying breath, he selected it and then waited.

Gosh, he was pathetic. It was just one simple task one he had assured Momo wouldn't be a problem because it wasn't like he'd never done it before, but… apparently he'd been wrong.

Hibiya had been so lost in thought he didn't notice till the last second the dial tone had ended and a artificial-ish female voice was telling him a voice mailbox had not been set up yet.

Wow, that was kind of anti-climatic.

"Great." It came out as a sarcastic hiss. He just felt _beyond_ stupid now. Maybe he should just send her a text instead, that would work right?

His phone suddenly buzzed in his hands and he jumped in surprise, dropping the device halfway underneath his bed. Hibiya scrambled for it and hit 'talk' without really thinking about who it was from.

"Yes?" he answered in a somewhat breathless manner.

"_Hibiya?" _It was Hiyori. Hibiya hadn't expected his heart to be hammering quite so hard (though that could just be the sudden adrenaline rush he'd had a second ago) as this was the fifth time he'd ever talked to Hiyori on the phone- though this was the first time _he'd_ ever called her- and for some reason the memory of her kissing him on the cheek wouldn't stop replaying itself in his head. _"Hey, sorry I missed the call. I didn't get to it in time."_ she apologized.

"Oh, it's fine." Hibiya said, surprised at how well his voice was still working.

"_So… was there a particular reason you called?" _she asked.

"Oh, uh… well," he stammered over the words, trying to formulate a sentence, "I was calling to, um- for Momo. She… she wants to know if you want to go to this thing tomorrow."

"_What 'thing'?" _Hiyori asked, skepticism apparent in her voice. Hibiya was wondering if she was remembering when Momo took both of them out in an attempt to cheer her up.

"I don't know." Hibiya admitted, "She won't tell me, but it's, like, on this list of stuff she has to do for summer, or something like that. She just wants to know if you you'll be available for all her psychotic plans." He was rolling his eyes even though she couldn't see.

Hiyori laughed good naturedly on the other end. _"Yeah, I suppose I am," she said, "but, and I don't know exactly when, but I have to leave sometime this summer."_

Immediately, Hibiya felt concerned, "What? Why?"

"_Oh, y'know, to visit stuffy cousins who pretend like they know me and have missed me, but as soon as we're done visiting , they'll forget I even existed." _Hibiya could tell she was smiling bitterly.

"_But it shouldn't be for too long. And most likely it'll be toward the end of the summer, since my family tends to do things last minute. So tell Momo I'll definitely be there."_

"Alright. Yeah, I'll tell." Hibiya said, nodding.

"_Great. I should go now, it's getting kinda late, but text me later about the 'thing' when you find out, okay?"_

"Yeah, alright. Bye."

"_Bye. Good night." _And the call ended.

Hibiya fell back on his bed, throwing his phone next to him and curling up in the sheets with his pillow. It was probably the best phone call yet he decided.


	3. Takane's Worst Nightmare

**Mainly the reason I procrastinated on this was because I had planned on doing two chapters in a row since and only finished the second chapter on Thanksgiving. Again I am so sorry. And unfortunately, due to the limited time I have left, this is probably the last thing I'll be posting for this year. Maybe, but most likely. I still hope you enjoy this chapter non the less and I will hopefully have another chapter and other stories up after winter break. Thank you all for still supporting this and reading**

**-Love Neku**

**Headsup: This chapter was rushed and may contain more errors than usual because it was not read over with the greatest of care as it should have.**

* * *

"Onii-chan." Momo knocked on her brother's door just for a second before barging in without an answer. "Onii-chan, are you ready to go yet?"

Shintaro instantly looked up and glared at her as she closed the door behind her, a comb in her hand, a pink scrunchy on her wrist, and a cotton candy blue vest slung over her shoulder. "Can you not knock?" he asked irritably, partway taking off his headphones.

"I did." Momo answered matter-of-factly as she ran the comb through her orange blonde hair. "Maybe if you didn't have your computer back in your room you would've heard me."

"Tch. That has nothing to do with it." Shintaro said, evading her comment, "What do you want anyway?" he asked, though his gaze turned back to his computer screen.

"I came to see if you were ready to go." Momo said, putting the comb down on the bed next to her and started tying a selected section of her hair with the scrunchy. "But I can see-" she paused to give him a once over, "-that you are definitely _not._"

"What're you even talking about?" Shintaro now gave her a puzzled look.

Momo gave a small scream of frustration and sank onto Shintaro's bed. "You know! The 'thing', we've been planning it forever." she said.

"No, _you've_ been planning it forever." her brother said and pointed an accusing finger at her before turning back to his computer, "And I'm not going."

Momo sat on the bed, not budging, a pout on her face. She thought about retorting again, but a soft thumping noise interjected into her thoughts.

Her eyes widened in surprise and confusion. She looked at her brother, but he had his headphones on and Momo rolled her eyes irritably. The thumping came again, and this time Momo peered over the far end of the bed.

"Oh, Tono." Momo had honestly forgotten her brother even owned a pet rabbit. It wasn't really her fault considering Shintaro never took her out like he used to when they were younger and it wasn't like she had unlimited access to his room either.

Tono crouched in the corner of her cage and Momo slipped her hand in and started stroking the bunny's soft ears. She looked back, but Shintaro was still too fixated on his computer screen to notice.

"Onii-chan, please, come with me."

Shintaro let out a ragged sigh. "I said no and I-" he stopped, "What the hell are you doing? Put her down!" He was standing out of his seat now.

"Oh calm down." Momo said as she cradled Tono in her arms and nuzzled her nose against the rabbit's white fur, "It's not like I've never held her before. Besides how can you say no to this face?"

Shintaro raised his eyebrows, "You're blackmailing me with my own pet?"

"I'm not blackmailing. Just come on, Nii-chan, they'll be happy to see you. Plus, Ayano will be there, and you should see her as much as you can before she leaves, y'know."

Shintaro let put another ragged sigh. "Okay, fine." he conceded.

"Yay~!" Momo beamed triumphantly, "Now hurry and get ready or we'll be late." she said leaving the room with Tono in tow.

* * *

"I can't believe you tried to bring Tono with you." Shintaro said hands in his pockets.

"I wasn't really serious about it." Momo said, "But you should definitely bring her out more." She paused but when her brother didn't say anything she continued, "I bet Ayano would like her."

"Tono doesn't do too well around strangers." he said.

"That's not true!" Momo argued, but she paused to tap her chin. "Okay. Well. There was that one time when at your tenth birthday party when she almost bit that one kid's pinky finger of-"

Shintaro raised his hand to cut her off, "Okay, subject change, please. How about, where are we going?"

Momo blinked, then grinned, "That's a secret~"

Shintaro rolled his eyes irritably. "Secret, secret. That's all I've heard from you lately. Does _anyone _know what this is all about?"

"You'll understand when we get there." Momo said, a hint of impatience in her voice.

Shintaro caught on to this and decided to close the subject there, walking silently next to his sister. When he checked his phone in his jersey pocket, it informed him it was around 5:30 in the evening, though it was still fairly bright out.

"Oi, Nii-chan." Momo broke the silence.

"Hm?"

"Ask mom if you can borrow the car tomorrow." she told him.

"What? Why?!" he demanded.

Momo sighed, thinking it quite obvious of her intentions. "I'm gonna need it this summer, at least a little, to accomplish some of the things on my list."

"Then why can't you ask her?"

"Obviously because she feels you're more responsible than me. Also, she might be more willing to give it to you if she thinks you're gonna be out more this summer."

Shintaro was already opening his mouth to retort, but the look Momo was giving him made him rethink his chances of winning the argument. Plus she did have a point, though he hated to admit it. "Yeah, sure. But you owe me one."

Momo frowned, her cheeks puffing slightly in irritation, "Fine." It seemed all their conversations tended to be arguments these days.

By this time Shintaro had already started to notice that he recognized where they were going, and he had a sneaking suspicion, an idea tickling in the back of his mind, that he knew exactly what Momo's so-called "secret" was. Then again, it could just be coincidence.

But, as soon as he saw Hibiya standing in front of the train station in a regular T-shirt and shorts, all chances of coincidence were shattered.

"Hey Boya." Momo greeted him, further convincing Shintaro that this was their destination.

Instead of getting angry or glaring at her, Hibiya just shook his head and muttered, "Don't call me that, _Oba-san._"

"Why are you out here?" Shintaro asked.

Hibiya shrugged slightly. "Hiyori. She asked me to wait out here for her."

"Are the others here too?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, last I checked. On the platform. Though I wouldn't be surprised if a fight has already ensued." he said.

"Oh, don't worry. Takane's not coming, so we should be fine." Momo told him and they both cracked smiles.

Shintaro and Momo then passed him and, sure enough, the others were there. All of them, except Takane.

"Not that I'm complaining, but does the "secret" have anything to do with why Takane isn't here?"

Momo snorted, "Gosh, you're impatient, aren't you?"

Shintaro was about to reply back, but someone grabbed his arm suddenly and he turned to see Ayano smiling at him and Haruka looking nervous behind her.

"Ah-um, Momo," Haruka said, avoiding said girl's gaze, "I… I really don't like doing this- lying to Takane, my girlfriend, I mean."

Momo bit her lip, thinking, and then patted his arm. "Don't worry. It's technically not lying since we just never told her about it. That doesn't count." Haruka seemed to agree with her, but didn't look too reassured.

"Yeah!" Kano piped up, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, "You'll probably just have to lie about knowing about this or she'll get mad at you."

Momo cast a glare at the blonde to which he returned with a less than sheepish grin.

"Don't listen to him." Kido then stepped into the conversation, "Takane may be mad, but I have a feeling it will be directed more at others than specifically yourself." She flicked her gaze momentarily to Momo.

"I guess everyone's as lively as ever." Shintaro muttered. Next to him Ayano nodded in agreement. "So… have you guess what the 'secret' is?"

Again, Ayano nodded. "It's kinda obvious, even if she didn't tell us."

"_No kidding." _Shintaro thought, but didn't say.

Then a train pulled into the station, and Shintaro knew it was only a matter of time. He didn't have to look to know Momo had a goofy grin stretched across her face, nearly bouncing in anticipation as people filed out through the doors. He didn't even need to look to know who they were waiting for; his sister's joyous yell of "Jalin!" was all the confirmation he needed.

"It's good to see you too, Momo." But his words were ignored by her.

"Partner!" Shintaro was pulled into a hug. He looked down to see Hannah grinning at him behind the rim of her glasses. "You'll never guess what happened. I had a dream that we were still partners with our flour babies, but then someone kidnapped them and started sending us muffins in the mail."

"Ah, err, that's not good." Shintaro said, patting her back awkwardly with his free hand, and Ayano giggled.

By the time it was getting dark, no one had really moved from the platform. All there was was hugs, chatter, and excited laughter.

"So this was the 'secret', huh?" Shintaro asked Momo.

Momo nodded. "I knew that if I didn't keep it a secret, Takane would eventually find out and try to put a stop to it." she explained.

"Well, I hope you're prepared." Shintaro said smirking, "because now Takane's going to kill you.

* * *

Takane was just finishing the dishes when she heard the knock on the door. Frowning, she looked at the digital clock above the stove and it reconfirmed her assumption that this wasn't a time people usually came over nor was she expecting anyone.

She battled whether to check the door, since she was in her pajamas and ready to retire for the night, but then another knock sounded even more urgently than before and she supposed she had no choice.

Grumbling, Takane dried her hands on the nearest towel and went to the door, unlocked it, and swung it open.

Before hand, Takane had vaguely wondered if it was Haruka come to see her at this ungodly hour (because it felt like something he would do), but, once her eyes adjusted to the faint glow from the porch light, she immediately slammed the door shut.

"I don't think she's very happy to see us."

"But we left on pretty good terms, I thought."

"Man, she must really hate you guys then."

This was a dream. Possibly a nightmare. Possibly Takane's worst nightmare. Inside, her heart was beating like a drum, but outside, her hands had already clenched into fists.

"What the hell are you dong here?!" she hissed through the door. Her grandmother had gone to bed early and was asleep, and Takane wanted it to stay that way.

"Hi Takane~" That was definitely Javier. "It's good to see you again, even if you did slam the door in our faces, which was quite rude."

"What are you _doing_ here?" she demanded again.

"Uh, Takane, it's Momo." Takane blinked. She hadn't remembered seeing Momo outside, but she's had been occupied by other thoughts at the time. "Don't be angry with them, since I invited them." she said.

Actually, Takane, in all honesty, wasn't as pissed off as she might have been months ago when she practically loathed the existence of the exchange students outside her door. What she was most pissed about was being backslapped with this surprise right before she was going to go to bed.

Reluctantly, and momentarily forgetting the embarrassment, Takane opened the door. "I'm not that mad, okay." she said, "It was just surprising, so don't do it again."

"I guess that explains your outfit." Javier said with a slight snicker.

For a moment Takane contemplated slamming the door back in their faces, but then Hannah quickly spoke up. "Uh, Takane, we got you this; a peace offering."

Takane looked down at the so-called peace offering. It was a pair of white headphones, similar to the one she currently owned, packaged in hard plastic. There was writing on the packaging and though Takane had no clue what it said she did recognized the displayed brand.

She then looked from the gift to Hannah and Javier. Then when she looked at Jalin, he returned her look with an unimpressed gaze and said, "I'm not with them."

Takane sighed and took the gift. "Fine, I accept your offering." she said.

"Yay~!"

"Alright, now if you'll excuse me…" she started closing the door.

"Wait Takane." It was Hannah, "Do you think that it would be alright it I stayed over for-"

"No." Takane said, not even giving her a chance to finish, and closed the door.

"Well, looks like you're sleeping on the couch." Javier said.

"Be quiet." Hannah snapped.

"Sorry, that didn't work out." Momo said to her.

Hannah shrugged. "Truth be told, I didn't expect it to." she admitted.

They all started moving down the small set of stairs and over to where Seto and Mary were waiting for them.


	4. Aquaphobia

_Bzzt. Bzzt bzzt._

Hibiya's eyes fluttered, opening only a brief second before he squeezed them shut and a frown creased his forehead. What time was it?

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

He ignored the buzzing and moved to kick his blankets and sheets off tumbling onto the floor. He pulled at his night shirt, which was sticking to his back and chest with sweat. It was rather hot and humid for so early in the morning.

_Bzzt. Bzz-_

"Mm… hello." Hibiya answered his phone.

"Hibiyaaaaaaa!" He didn't even need the extra long vowel sound to know it was none other than Kisaragi Momo.

"Um, yeah, what do you want?" he asked, running a hand through his messy - and slightly damp - brown hair.

There was an irritated huff. "I've been trying to call you for hours. Where have you been?"

Hours? How early had she been trying to call him? "Well, sorry, I guess. Why were you trying to call me anyway?"

Another huff. "Did you forget? I already explained it to everybody."

"No, sorry, I forgot." Hibiya said, too sleepy to even defend himself.

Again, Momo made another exasperated noise, and, in Hibiya's opinion, she was getting way too uptight about this. She was getting way too invested in this 'let's-do-all-this-stuff-in-summer' thing, to the point where if anything went wrong she acted like the world was ending.

He was so lost in these thoughts that he almost missed when Momo said, "We're all going swimming today."

The knot that formed in Hibiya's stomach was involuntary. "Oh… Yeah. That." he swallowed audibly.

"Uh, _yeah_," Momo said in a 'duh' voice, "and I hope you'll be ready because we're leaving."

"Now?!" Hibiya asked in bewilderment, hoping the whining protest in his voice wasn't as apparent as he felt.

"Well it's already after noon, so yeah. Now. Seto and Mary will come by and pick you up so, be ready." And with that she hung up.

When Hibiya pulled the phone away, he saw that Momo was right and it was already passed 1 o'clock. He'd slept passed midday; this was becoming a terrible habit.

But that wasn't the biggest issue at the moment. Swimming… one of the biggest fears Hibiya since it had been a suggestion on their finale day of school.

So, Hibiya confessed, he wasn't very good at swimming. It wasn't that he didn't know how to, he did - to an extent - but he didn't like it. He especially didn't like trying to stay afloat when the water was up to his neck and his feet could barely find the floor. Or the sensation of putting his head underwater, it was like unintentionally attempting to drown yourself, and, in Hibiya's opinion, why tempt fate?

Needless to say, he wasn't looking forward to this, much like most of the things Momo planned out to do.

Hibiya had gotten on his red swim shorts and white shirt when Seto and Mary showed up.

"Yo!" Seto greeted when he opened the door, his arm around Mary, who was wearing a white, sleeveless, sun dress, and smiling until he noticed the obvious grimace on Hibiya's face. "Ooh… bad time?"

"No." Hibiya replied, albeit rather unconvincingly. "Just let me get my phone and stuff."

He grabbed his phone from his room and the red lanyard he owned which only contained the one key for is house. He got back down the stairs only to find Seto and Mary still standing awkwardly in the doorway he'd left open.

"You could have sat down for a moment." Hibiya said as he locked the door behind him.

"We just didn't know if it was okay." Mary said softly. Seto then squeezed her arm reassuringly. Hibiya noticed this and tried not to feel like a third wheel the rest of the way to the pool.

Though it was a moderately hot day, there were quite a few people still there, but try as you might, it wasn't hard to find their rag tag group among them.

Hibiya was more or less one of the most awkward and uncomfortable out of the bunch, and, like a lot of things had been lately, it was all Momo's fault.

On his way to the pool with Seto and Mary, he'd already been thinking of strategic ways he'd be able to avoid swimming directly and they included: going for snacks, claiming he'd eaten before swimming and didn't want cramps, initiating some kind of volleyball game and stay in the shallow end, initiate a game of Marco Polo and then soundlessly sneak away, and/or fake an emergency and head back home.

None of the options had sounded too appealing or even entirely worth the effort, so Hibiya had begrudgingly decided he might as well deal with the extreme self-consciousness. And it wasn't until he saw _her _that everything came crumbling in on itself.

In retrospect, he already should have known Hiyori would be here, but in his panic of swimming, he'd totally forgotten about her showing up.

"Hibiya, hi." she said. Her hair was in a ponytail instead of her usual twin tails and she wore a simple, dark blue swim suit.

"Ah, yeah… hey." he greeted back awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. He was trying not to seem like he was staring and look almost anywhere but at the girl in front of him. "I didn't really expect to see you here."

Hiyori just kind of shrugged. "Momo invited me. I'm not much for swimming, but I had nothing better to do really."

"S-same." Hibiya lied again as he had practically been forced, or at least that's how it felt and he didn't want to imagine what Momo might do to him if he blew off one of her plans.

At least Hibiya didn't have to think of anymore conversation starters as Hannah appeared next to Hiyori. "Come on Hiyori, let's go in the pool!" she urged.

The raven haired girl was hesitant, but eventually let the other pull her along and into the water. Hibiya had watched for half a second before marching over toward the set up plastic tables.

Momo was there, apparently looking for something in a red duffle bag as she had her arm elbow deep in it. Jalin sat on one of the deck chairs near her, blowing into an inflatable beach ball.

"Why did you invite Hiyori?" Hibiya was almost hissing through his teeth.

The orange blonde glanced at him and then straightened up. For a moment Hibiya's anger fizzled out and was replaced with mild to moderate uncomfortableness at seeing Momo in a polka-dotted bikini, but then he just shook it off.

"What do you mean?" she asked, "She's our friend isn't she, what would you have me do?"

Hibiya didn't really have an answer, but that didn't make him any less upset. "I-I just… you just have the worst timing _ever_ in the history of bad timing you-you stupid cow!" He hadn't meant to be so insulting, but he wanted to blame someone else besides himself.

Momo bristled and even Jalin stopped his task to look up at them warily.

"Listen up, Boy Scout," she started, glaring with hands on her hips, "just because you're upset that you can't confess to Hiyori, doesn't mean you can blame me for these situations every time! You always do this when _you _are the one who needs to pull yourself together. Don't get mad at me just because you're a coward."

Hibiya was staring, almost gaping, at her now with wide eyes. He didn't recall her ever being this angry before. Sure they'd argued plenty of times before now, but the tension seemed much more serious than anytime they'd argued before.

Then she added, "If you hate being around her so much than just leave!"

* * *

Hibiya kicked his feet back and forth in the water, sulking.

After his confrontation with Momo, he'd wandered over to the other end of the pool alone. What she said was true, he didn't really have the right to be angry as it wasn't her fault. But that didn't have him feel any less pissed. If only it wasn't at himself.

He looked around the pool. Other than the families and children occupying the pool he could still pick out his friends.

Takane, someone he was surprised had agreed to come was not even swimming, but laying on one of the plastic deck chairs sun bathing. Haruka was next to her, talking with Kido and Kano, though Kido didn't seem at all enthusiastic about being here.

Near the shallow end, Ayano was knee deep in the water on the entry stairs, trying to get Shintaro to follow by pulling his arm and dragging him in.

Hiyori was still with Javier Seto, and Mary, all somewhat splashing each other while Hannah was nowhere to be seen. He concluded she must be underwater. He also didn't see Momo where he'd left her, though Jalin was still there with the beach ball.

Hibiya just kicked his feet back and forth in the water. Maybe he should just go home.

Then there was a tap on his shoulder. He barely looked up to see Momo standing next to him before she pointed a plastic water gun at him and squirted him entirely in the face.

Hibiya wasn't sure what he looked like when it happened, but he was sure it wasn't very dignified.

After wiping the water from his eyes, he gave Momo a dirty look and she, in turn, just looked at him expectantly. Still unsure of her mood from their previous conversation, Hibiya only asked, "Why?"

"I came here to say I'm sorry." she answered.

"And blasting me in the face with water was part of your apology?!"

"No, no… I don't know. I just didn't want you to still be mad at me. Plus I found this water gun." she said as she examined it further.

Hibiya just sighed and shivered slightly from the chill of the water. "Next time, try flowers." he said, though not sure if someone as dense as Momo could detect his sarcasm in a moment like this. He turned away from her, sticking his feet back in the pool, and, surprisingly, Momo followed after, sitting next to him and dipping her own feet in the water.

"You're still pissed, aren't you?" she said, kicking her feet back and forth.

Hibiya shrugged and at the same time blinked away the water droplets trailing down from his hair. "I am pissed, but not at you really. It's not your fault what you said was true."

He met Momo's surprised look. "I shouldn't have said it that way, though." she muttered.

"Like I've said before," Hibiya continued, "I know you generally care about people and try to help, but you still have a problem with spewing out the first thing you think of."

Momo then elbowed him. "And _you_ need to stop being so confined with your feelings and blaming others when your in situations that threaten to expose you." she countered, albeit good naturedly.

He only gave her a smirk and she sighed. "I know it's annoying to put yourself out there," she said, "but you all are so awkward when it comes to romance that I know you'd never make any progress if it wasn't for me."

"Okay," said Hibiya, "I know you have butted in on me and Hiyori's relationship, but what do you mean 'all'?"

"Well," most people, when they like someone, are too shy and end up doing nothing about their feelings, like you, and it is the job of a third party, such as myself, to push you down the path of love, whether you like it or not."

"Technically, it is not your _job_." Hibiya corrected

Momo huffed, "It might as well be. Half of the relationships in our group only came about because of my interference, or those of others. If it wasn't for me, Onii-chan and Ayano wouldn't be together and neither would Kano and Kido."

"Yeah, and you caused them a whole lot of stress while doing it too."

Momo then focused back on the water. "But… I suppose I haven't been that much help to you, huh? Relationship wise."

"Mm… not so much." Hibiya admitted.

"Yeah…" she agreed and silence then lingered awkwardly between them, only filled by the laughs and giggles of children splashing in the water nearby.

"You know what?" Momo finally said, "I'll make you a deal. I will stop trying to interfere in your and Hiyori's relationship, but in return you have to confess your feelings to her by the time summer ends."

"Wh-what?" Hibiya spluttered.

"It's perfect!" The orange blonde continued on, now seemingly lost in the brilliance of her idea to notice, or care, about Hibiya's obvious distaste and disagreement of it. "That way we won't have to have another fight and you can finally find out if Hiyori loves you."

Hibiya then came overcame his initial objection of the idea and gave Momo a more serious look. "Don't you think that if I could, I would have done it by now?" he asked.

Momo rolled her eyes and smirked. "No, you always could have told her, you're just scared. And if you don't come through with it, I'll have no choice, but to interfere again."

Hibiya groaned inwardly and wondered if the inner turmoil showed clearly on his face. Though he would definitely be overjoyed if Momo kept herself out of his love life (if he could even call it that), but trying himself to admit his feelings to Hiyori, after all the missed and better set up opportunities, seemed completely awkward.

He glanced up from staring at the bottom of the pool and up to where Momo was now wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Ugh…" Hibiya groaned in defeat, his head in his hands, "Fine. Fine! I'll do it. But you have to promise that you won't interfere _at all_."

"Oh, I promise, but _you_ also have to promise that you'll confess by the end of the summer." Then she clarified, "And you can't do it on the first day of school, or any cop-out bull like that. It has to be during the summer."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." he brushed her off with a disgruntled tone.

She chuckled. "Well, you better hurry up, Romeo, because summer's almost over."

With this wonderful pep talk she hit him hard on the back. This not only hurt seeing as he was without a shirt, but as he had been slouching over the edge of the palm when her palm hit, he cringed and the force of it found him falling in the water.

The shock of cold water sent him back up to the surface out of breath, and, after a quick moment of panic, grabbed onto the edge of the pool. He brushed his hair away from his face and scowled.

Meanwhile, Momo had gaped at the unforeseen consequences of her actions, but once she realized he was alright, she began to laugh uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" she kept repeating between her bouts of snorts and laughter until she began to calm down, "I'm sorry…"

"I forgive you," he deadpanned, "but, please, help me out of here?"

* * *

**Hey, Hey~! Sorry it took, like, a year for this. I lost momentum for this story and ultimately changed some things from my original plan. Not to mention boatloads of school work and certain latest spoilers for the manga that were… depressing to say the least, but now I'm trying to finish it with renewed vigor. So, I hope people will still follow if I keep writing.**

**~ Neku ;3**


	5. Hotaru

Momo was wishing for the third time - and probably not the last - that she had brought a jacket. It wasn't exactly cold out. In fact, it could even be considered warm, but the slight breeze was enough to make her shiver. She should be grateful though. Within the oncoming weeks, the season would only increase in temperature.

The sky was still glowing pink and orange, the sun a barely visible yellow smudge on the horizon, so Momo started spreading the blanket she had tucked under her arm out. She'd almost succeeded when something bristled against the back of her legs causing her to jolt and stumble forward. "Eek!"

Hannah quickly appeared beside her and latched onto the collar of Enishi and pulled him toward her. The dog immediately sat and she rubbed under his scruff before giving Momo an apologetic look. "Sorry if he startled you." she said.

"Oh no, it's fine." Momo assured her. Hannah then let go of the collar and Enishi took off through the grass, nearly blending into the ever increasing shadows.

"Shouldn't you keep him on a leash?" Javier suggested, coming up behind them with Jalin, Hibiya, Hiyori, and Kano trailing after him.

"Nah, Seto says he's fine without it. We just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't wander off too far." Hannah said, and at that took a look around to spot the dog.

"Kind of bad manners to have your guests babysit your dog so you can be alone with your girlfriend, isn't it?" Kano mused without looking up from his phone.

Hannah only shrugged. "I offered to take him when he and Mary said they were too tired to go."

"Yeah," Javier muttered, "'too tired'."

Hiyori then pointed out, "You have to admit, it's kind of late to be out."

Kano snorted softly and handed the bag that he'd had slung across his shoulder. "Man, none of you know how to have a good time." he said shaking his head. "If those lovey-dovey couples want to really have fun, they shouldn't just hang out at home the entire night."

"Is that why Kido isn't here?" Hannah questioned.

Kano just smirked, checking his phone again before answering. "She thought it was better for her to focus on her summer homework, and she told me it would help her if I left instead. Apparently I'm too much of a _distraction_."

Silence lingered awkwardly. Kano continued to stare at his phone after going quiet, Hannah was keeping an eye on Enishi to make sure he didn't wander off too far, Momo was rummaging through the bag Kano had brought, and the others just stood, waiting for night to come.

"You know," Hannah then said, breaking the silence, "this is kinda cool. I've never seen fireflies before. Like, physically."

Hibiya gave her a questioning look. "Never?"

We don't have fireflies where we live." Javier explained.

"Guess it's a good thing we did this, huh?" Momo said with a grin. Now out of the bag, she had pulled out two jars and a flashlight.

Hibiya eyed the jars Momo had laid out on the blanket. "You're going to put them in jars?"

"Yeah."

"That's... kind of cruel don't you think?"

"Oh grow up!"

The sun soon set, leaving the sky a mere bluish-grey. Enishi soon took to relaying his discontent as fireflies appeared among the grass and tried clinging to his fur.

Momo did in fact catch quite a few of the flying insects and capped them in her jar, joking about how much Shintaro would freak out if she set them loose in his room. Hiyori told her that probably wasn't a very good idea, and Hibiya pointed out that was crueler than keeping the fireflies in a jar.

Hannah tried to keep Enishi from eating any of the lightning bugs, but, unfortunately, failed once or twice. Kano and Javier, however, thought it was more than amusing with the former even managing to snap a picture.

All in all, it was a good night.

* * *

Kano walked home by himself, which was fine with him because it wasn't like he wasn't used to it, especially at night.

Momo had suggested that she give him a ride, or at least walk home with him himself since Hiyori had Hibiya to walk her home and Hannah, Javier, and Enishi were all headed in the same direction. Kano had declined as, if Momo walked him home, he would feel obliged to walk her home himself, and it would just end in a vicious cycle of back and forth walking which had been known to make many people dizzy.

So Kano walked home, his way illuminated by the various lit street lamps and the screen of his phone.

Kano hadn't been answering any of his texts, which figured as she'd told him the reason she wasn't going was because she had a certain amount of homework to do everyday, and this was her time to do it. She'd probably turned her phone off or silenced it as soon as more than one text came through.

He continued though, only because he didn't want her to think he was too upset over the argument they'd had before he had left...

_"Oh come on, Kido." Kano whined, "Why don't you want to hang out? Momo really wants us too."_

_Kido sighed, brushing part of her bangs away from her face. She was still in her pajamas. Normally, it was Kano who was lazy enough to lounge around the house for entire breaks in just his pajamas, but now Kido seemed to be following in his footsteps._

_"I have homework to do." she said simply._

_It wasn't like it wasn't true. He'd been watching her for days sit in the living room, in her room, and - when he could convince her - his room, writing and reading and calculating for hours. It was mentally exhausting to just watch her._

_"So just call it a break. It's not gonna be for that long anyway." he said._

_"Kano, I can't." she told him decisively. "I already went to the pool with you, so can't you just give me this one exception?"_

_It took a lot to move Kano irritable, and Kido knew that. Maybe that's why, when he was pulling his hoodie on and felt her stare burning on his back, he met it unflinchingly. "What is it?" he asked._

_Kido was frowning. "You're upset."_

_Kano snorted, turning away to roll his eyes. "I'm fine."_

_"If you're going to lie, at least do it to my face."_

_He then looked back at her. "What's you're problem?"_

_"What's **your** problem?!" Kido raised her voice slightly but not enough that it would alert others not in the room, probably out of habit. "You're the one who's getting mad at me because I'm making my homework my priority."_

_"I'm not mad." he told her, "but I do think it's ridiculous the amount of time you spend on it."_

_"Well, I'm sorry I don't have the ability to disregard things that are more important in the long run."_

_Kano simmered in irritated silence before pulling his hood up over his head. "If anyone asks, I went with Momo. I should be back in a few hours."_

_Kido didn't say anything as he left the room._

It had gone something like that, he recalled.

That was hours ago and, honestly, Kano never stayed irritated for long, especially not against Kido. And especially since they had started dating.

The only light on at home was the front one near the steps. Based on this, he inferred that no one was up. He was afraid he might have to get the spare key from under the welcome mat, but, luckily, it was open.

Kano was able to maneuver his way through the dark and to his own room (The last of Seto's things had been moved out officially weeks ago and into storage or taken with him to Mary's). As he collapsed back on his bed, he mentally told himself that he would make up with Kido tomorrow, and he hoped she was as wiling to get over this stupid argument as he was.

* * *

**I really don't like putting whole sections in italics, but it felt right, so I did it. Sorry to those of you who find it annoying to read.**


End file.
